Review of the Literature

A
 
C
ONCEPTUAL 
F
RAMEWORK FOR 
T
EACHER 
D
EVELOPMENT
 
The conceptual framework for teacher development, outlined below, is drawn from the literature. 
The first part displays some aspects of the relationships between teacher learning and teacher 
practice discussed in the literature review. The second part hypothesizes further relationships 
between teacher practice and student learning that are not taken up directly in this review. The 
framework displays the possibilities and complexities of achieving educational quality, 
emphasizing teaching quality that leads to quality student learning. The framework assumes that 
the following relationships influence teachers’ practice and student learning and serve as a way of 
thinking about the achievement of education quality:
▪
Teachers’ opportunities to learn are critical, but they do not translate directly into good 
practice. Translating opportunity to learn into good practice depends on the nature of 
process at the school level and a variety of mediating factors. The most important may be 
whether teachers participate in professional development that is comprehensive and 
continuous throughout their professional lives. The nature of professional development, 
continuous or not, must connect with a whole-school improvement program, while the 
personal characteristics of the teacher provide a critical mediating factor as do a wide 
variety of conditions at the school level. Opportunities to learn, therefore, combine with 
mediating factors to shape practice. A teacher’s opportunity to reflect on practice, to 
develop skills that allow for flexibility, and willingness to implement new practices are 
also essential in determining the nature of practice.
▪
Practice is not static. Ideally it will change and improve as teachers gain new knowledge 
and skills, deeper understanding of their students, and increasing confidence and status 
throughout the years of their practice. This kind of learning and change takes place 
through experience supported by ongoing professional development. Without this 
combination, practice may be static or, worse, influenced only by outdated instructional 
methods. 
▪
A teacher’s practice, no matter how excellent, does not translate directly into student 
learning. Even the best practice is filtered through a range of further mediating factors 
relating to student characteristics.
Despite the range of mediating factors that stand as help or hindrance between teacher learning 
and student learning, teachers’ opportunities to learn and change are critical in the process, the 
element that has the strongest impact on quality of student learning. As suggested in the literature 
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review, school-based teacher learning based on communities of practice may be the key in many 
countries to helping teachers translate the theories acquired through professional development 
into classroom practice. The following is a visual display of these relationships, emphasizing the 
role of process and mediating factors: